


Fangirls

by TheLovelyLadyAuthor



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Best Friends, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fans, Fluff, Romance, Smut, criminals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-30 20:29:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19410805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLovelyLadyAuthor/pseuds/TheLovelyLadyAuthor
Summary: Taylor and Katrina are possibly the biggest fans of two particular Gotham Rogues, without being crazy and over the top about it. Though Taylor accidentally gets the attention of her hero, and her and her best friend's worlds get knocked upside down.





	1. Home Is Where the Heart Is

Taylor blinked her eyes open, harsh light spilling through the curtains and interrupting her sleep.

Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and looked back at the girl who’s shoulder she had been using as a pillow. The light didn’t seem to have woken Katrina, who muttered quietly and rolled over.

The red headed girl smirked at her sleeping companion, before yawning and climbing out of bed, prancing over to the messy dresser surface and grabbing a neon green scrunchie, pulling her straight red hair into a ponytail.

Looking in the mirror, she smiled, seemingly pleased at her disheveled appearance. She was wearing a green t-shirt and purple panties that barely showed, the colours going along with Taylor’s favorites.

Looking back, she eyed her best friend, who’s attire didn’t seem as comfortable for sleep at her own.

Katrina lay in a brown button up shirt, only a few buttons done up. Her lose brown curls were pulled into a messy bun, and her boy short panties were covered with small orange pumpkins.

 _For someone so serious, she sure wears amusing undergarments,_ Taylor giggled to herself, before reaching for her pair of glasses on the bedside table, beside Katrina’s thinner rimmed ones. Turning, she glanced at the clock, knowing that Katrina wouldn’t be up for a while.

She trotted quietly over to the trap door on the floor, seeing as the small house her and Katrina owned only had one floor and an attic, so they had no other choice for a bedroom.

Well there were two small rooms downstairs, but, Taylor wanted an office and so did Katrina.

Dropping the ladder as quietly as she could, Taylor dropped down and left it open, making her way to her own lab and walking in. It wasn’t very extravagant, walls lined with full bookshelves much like Katrina’s. In the middle was her desk with her computer.

Taylor dropped down into the worn swivel office chair and stretched, before leaning forward and opening the laptop. The last site was still open, a site that Taylor shouldn’t even have access to.

“Praise to me for superior hacking skills.” Taylor grinned, booting up the game. The site that she was on belonged to none other than Edward Nigma, The Riddler. Well, at least that’s what Taylor believed, and she was hardly wrong.

On the site was a riddle database and several games that really tested your mental abilities, though what Taylor loved the most was the Riddle of the Minotaur game, which was the game that Edward Nigma had created and lost his rights to.

Taylor shook her head, feeling sympathy for the man she idolized who had his genius design snatched from him by a cruel hand.

This version on the site, however, was different from the original game – which Taylor also owned – as it was harder, with more complex riddles and challenges. Taylor had beaten the original game, though she didn’t brag often about it.

Who was there to brag to anyways?

This version presented her with a challenge, as she had yet to complete it, but often found herself getting close. She’d play it late into the evening while Katrina watched from beside her, not being able to sleep due to the light from the monitor.

Taylor tapped away at the keyboard for a while, and before she knew it, hours had passed.

Light footsteps were heard from above and Taylor looked up as Katrina walked into the room, smoothing out the creases on her button up.

“Still mulling away over that game?” She yawned, stretching and revealing a bit of her pale stomach, though Taylor wasn’t paying attention.

“Of course. I will slave away until I’ve beaten it. A puzzle hasn’t evaded me for this long before.” Taylor shook her head, appearing to be rather miffed, though, in all honestly, she was highly enjoying the engaging challenge.

Katrina shook her head, knowing she was going to have to put up with Taylor’s constant gaming all weekend before their classes on Monday. Perhaps she would be able to convince her to go out somewhere.

She was never one to have much desire to go out on the town, but Taylor had been absorbed in that game for far too long.

Sighing, Katrina turned and walked out of the room. Taylor glanced up for a moment, then back down, before she realized that her friend was gone, and stood up. Picking up the laptop, she darted after her friend, climbing back into the attic after her.

“Have I done something?” Taylor inquired, placing the laptop on the foot of the bed and kneeling down to type a few more commands.

“Well, not necessarily, no,” Katrina responded, unbuttoning her shirt with her back to Taylor. “Actually, that’s the problem. You haven’t done anything other than play that game. We need to go out.”

Taylor stopped the game and turned around to look at her friend, her eyes landing on the black tattoo on her lower back. It was Scarecrow’s insignia, a face with menacing eyes and a mouth that was an upside down bat symbol.

“Why do we have to go out? Home is where the heart is, we’re completely comfortable here.” She frowned, pulling off her own shirt and pulling out a green tank top from the drawer, along with a pair of purple short shorts.

Katrina shook her head, buttoning up a fresh black blouse and pulling on her dark jeans. She took her hair down and redid it, pulling it into a tight, professional bun, before she slipped her glasses on.

“Because, we’re going to get cabin fever, like the main character in-” Katrina paused as she turned, her eyes falling on the laptop that sat, facing them on the foot of the bed. “Taylor, why do you have your webcam on?”

Taylor brushed the question away.

“Oh something’s buggy with it, it’s been doing that for weeks,” She shook her head. “It’s not feeding any footage to anything, at least not that I can find. I think it’s the security thing, it’s just gone buggy after a while.”

When she noticed her friend’s raised eyebrow, she continued.

“My webcam records footage of whoever opens it, and films them. It usually only lasts like ten minutes, or more if I access it from somewhere else if I know it’s stolen. I just think it bugs out when it tries to shut off so it just leaves itself recording. It’s nothing. Just probably need a new computer.”

Katrina was quiet for a moment, before she went back to explaining to her friend why they needed to get out of the house once in a while.

Little did the two girls know, that on the other side of the city, there were two figures watching them through the camera, having been given access through Taylor’s recent most frequented site.


	2. A Most Intriguing Notion

On the other side of Gotham, Edward Nigma stared at the screens of his computer.

One showed a beautiful young girl, red hair ruffled from sleep, staring intently at him, or more so, the screen of the computer she was on. The one beside showed what she was looking at, his own website that no one had even found.

She was playing his extreme version of his Riddle of the Minotaur game, one that was never even released to the public.

What was even more surprising was that she had been able to find it, she had hacked in with computer skills that rivaled even his own.

“You’re still watching that girl?” Jonathan questioned as he walked into the office from his lab in the room next to Edward’s. “You know this is stalking, right?”

“What makes you say that?” Edward frowned, looking up to blink at the man.

“You’ve been watching her through that monitor since she found your site. I hardly think she’s given you permission and also she doesn’t even know you. That definitely makes this stalking.” Jonathan shook his head, adjusting his glasses as he rolled up his dress shirt sleeves.

“But, Jonathan, she hacked into my website and is playing my game,” Edward exclaimed, clapping his gloved hands together enthusiastically. “She also appears to be doing it for fun! For a challenge!”

“Fun? Who’d find your taxing challenges fun?”

Narrowing his eyes at his friend, Edward looked back to the screen as the girl stopped talking to her friend, whom Riddler hadn’t seen on the screen yet, before she stood up, picking up the computer and carrying it with her.

The view was of the girl’s t-shirt clad chest for a few moments before it was placed down on some surface, most likely a best as the room around looked like a bedroom. The red headed girl clicked away at the game for a moment before her friend stepped into view.

“Who is that?”

Jonathan’s voice surprised Edward, as it came out in an almost awed sort of whisper. Edward looked back to find Jonathan watching the girl on the screen.

The red headed girl’s companion was taller than her, with messy brown curls pulled into a bun. Startling blue eyes, much like Jonathan’s, watching the red head with an unimpressed look. Edward found himself smirking slightly.

“I believe her name is Katrina, I’ve never seen her before now but often the red headed girl talks to her and that’s what she calls her.” I informed him, and Jonathan’s eyes flickered slightly.

“Katrina…” He trailed off, before shaking his head. “Where are these girls? Are they in Gotham?”

“Yes, I believe they live in a rather bad part of town not far from the university. From what I’ve come to understand from watching them, they’re university students.”

Edward watched as Jonathan’s eyes widened, causing Edward to look back at the screen to see what the fuss was. Behind the red headed girl’s form as she played the game, was the brunette, undressing, dropping the brown button up to the floor as she searched for more clothing.

The tattoo on her lower back caused Edward to chuckle slightly.

“It looks like you’ve got an admirer, Jonathan.” Edward smirked at his companion, referencing the insignia of his friend that adorned the young woman’s back.

 _“Why do we have to go out? Home is where the heart is, we’re completely comfortable here.”_ The red headed girl spoke to Katrina, who shook her head, turning back to face her as she buttoned up a dark blouse.

The red head stood up and pulled her shirt over her head, revealing the neon green question mark tattoo that crawled up her back. Edward’s cheeks reddened slightly while Jonathan snickered.

 _“Because, we’re going to get cabin fever, like the main character in-”_ The brunette paused in her words as she looked at the webcam, a suspicious expression on her face. _“Taylor, why do you have your webcam on?”_

The red head, Taylor as her name was now known to the men, shook her head, causing Edward to relax the tension he didn’t know he had since the girl mentioned the webcam.

_“Oh something’s buggy with it, it’s been doing that for weeks. It’s not feeding any footage to anything, at least not that I can find. I think it’s the security thing, it’s just gone buggy after a while.”_

Taylor’s words seemed to cause Katrina to frown, before Taylor began to explain further about the security on her webcam, but Edward’s wasn’t paying attention.

“I want to meet her. I want to see if she’s as smart as she’s led me to believe. I want to test her with riddles and see if her mind is up to the test. I want to see if she can match wits with the Riddler.” Edward rubbed his hands together, but Jonathan shook his head.

“This is an awful idea, Edward. You’re going to traumatize that poor girl who probably just likes doing mazes. Just leave her be.”

Edward frowned, looking back at the screen and half listening to the girls discuss their plans to have an outing to the mall that day, followed by a trip to the jazz club known as Shaugnessy’s.

“You want that girl, Jonathan,” Edward started, noting the look on his friend’s face that confirmed his thoughts. “I’m not sure why but you got this look on your face when you saw her. Whether you want her for a companion or for testing is beyond me. But you’re going to help me.”

Jonathan was quiet. He knew Edward was right, he almost always was.

_**~*~*~*~** _

Later that day, Jonathan was not very pleased to find himself trailing after Edward, who was acting as if he was in a spy movie as he followed the two girls through the mall.

“This is below me, Edward,” Jonathan huffed angrily, watching the two girls enter a bookstore. “It should be below you too.”

“Nonsense. This is research.” Edward brushed his friend’s words away as they entered the store.

Jonathan groaned lightly, rolling his eyes and pushing his glasses up his nose before stopping behind Edward, who pulled a random magazine off the shelf and raised it up, pretending to read as he peeked over the top to spy on the girls.

It didn’t last very long before a few random girls started giggling at him, and Edward looked at the cover of the magazine, reading the large bolded ‘sex tips’ title that caused his face to match his hair.

Jonathan couldn’t help but laugh. While they were criminals, stalking young girls wasn’t something either of the two men had ever done, and Jonathan hadn’t ever planned on it. But, Jonathan couldn’t honestly say that he wasn’t having a good time.

The girls were blissfully unaware that they were being followed as they purchased a few books before heading somewhere that they could find a nice outfit for the jazz club that evening.

Katrina was hardly paying attention to Taylor, who was babbling on. Raising a hand to her forehead, the brunette squeezed her eyes shut and sighed. Her headache was persisting and Taylor’s ramblings weren’t helping her.

“Taylor, could you please be quiet?” Katrina requested kindly, but, it seemed that her friend was too excited to have any intention to do so.

“But, Katrina, you don’t understand, see-”

 _Oh for the love of God just kill her,_ a voice in the back of Katrina’s head snarled, causing her to wince.

“No, I would never…” She spoke quietly out loud, though Taylor didn’t notice as she continued to babble contently.

_Then let me do it!_

It startled the two boys watching when the tall brunette suddenly, as if snapping, turned on her young friend, grabbing her by the collar and holding her close to her. Taylor was silent, her eyes wide with fear that, even from a distance, made Jonathan twitch.

The red head stared up at her best friend, who’s blue eyes had glassed over. Her lip trembled in fear before Katrina seemed to return to normal and dropped her grip on her friend’s collar.

“I… I’m so sorry, Taylor… I just…” Katrina rubbed her head, looking down at the ground, ashamed.

“No… it’s okay, Trina,” Taylor smiled, calling her friend by the pet name to assure her that she wasn’t mad. “You asked me to stop and I kept going, I should have understood that you had a headache. I’m really sorry.”

Katrina nodded her head as Taylor hugged her, before they both picked up the bags they had dropped when Katrina snapped.

“One more stop and then I think it’s time to go home,” Taylor suggested, smiling kindly at her companion. “Maybe it will help if you rest a bit before tonight.”

The brunette was quiet, simply nodding her head as the two headed to the dress shop.

Jonathan and Edward exchanged looks. Perhaps there was more to these girls than they had thought.

**_~*~*~*~_ **

The pounding of the jazz music was more than Katrina’s aching head could really take.

Sitting at her table, she downed another shot and then flagged down the waiter. She wasn’t a heavy drinker, but it seemed to be the only thing keeping… her… away.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Taylor questioned tentatively. It had been Katrina’s idea to go to Shaugnessy’s yet Taylor was the only one seemingly enjoying herself. She had even been asked to dance a few times, probably thanks to the form fitting emerald dress.

“Yes, I’m fine. This is fun,” Katrina smiled weakly, grabbing the shot as soon as the waiter placed it down. “Could I get some whiskey please?”

“I’d like a glass of champagne.”

The waiter nodded his head, but, before he could leave, another voice stopped him.

“We’ll have one of each as well.”

Taylor looked up, her eyes locking with those of a tall, red headed man.


	3. A Night on the Town

The newcomer was a tall redhead, who glanced back at Taylor after the waiter had left.

“Do you mind if we sit here?” He inquired, to which Taylor, who was staring with wide eyes, bit her lip to suppress her excitement.

“…n-no, of course, be my guest.” Taylor smiled nervously as the two men sat at the table with them.

Of course she recognized them, Edward Nigma and Jonathan Crane, how could she not? Katrina and her only talked about them all the time.

They followed their escapades with the police and knew all about them.

Kindred spirits, Taylor might say.

“So, who might you lovely ladies be?” Edward inquired, his eyes taking in the stunning beauty in green and her rather depressed looking friend, who hadn’t even looked up at them.

“My name is Taylor Dundes, and this is my best friend, Katrina Irving.” Taylor introduced, her cheeks flushing though her voice was overcome with excitement. Katrina waved a hand tiredly, not bothering to look up at the newcomers.

The waiter returned, placing the whiskey down in front of Katrina, who began to drink greedily, and then the champagne in front of Taylor.

The other two drinks were placed in front of Edward and Jonathan, who took the champagne and whiskey respectively. Taylor couldn’t help but become a bit giddy when she realized that her and the Riddler enjoyed the same drink.

She knew Katrina would be flustered if she would only pay attention! One would think that she’d be able to see the men, but, they had sat down on her left, so that was a no go.

Taylor was about to attempt to get Katrina to look up, when Edward spoke up once more.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you both, we’re-”

“Edward Nigma and Jonathan Crane, yes we know.” Taylor beamed, while Katrina choked slightly on her whiskey, looking up with a hand pressed to her chest, seeing the boys for the first time.

Taylor couldn’t help but laugh at her, earning a glare.

“Sorry, Katrina, I was just waiting for you to stop brooding and look up, but, I got your attention anyways.” Taylor snickered, watching her friend’s cheeks heat up slightly, before she winced and rubbed her head.

Concern flashed across Taylor’s face but she pushed it away, knowing very well that if Katrina wanted her help she would tell her.

“So what brings you two lovely ladies to Shaugnessy’s?” Edward inquired, taking a sip of his champagne as Taylor flushed at the compliment. Edward, of course, noticed this, and felt a small smirk cross his lips.

“Well, Katrina decided that I had been spending too much time playing… uh,” Taylor blushed and fiddled with a piece of her hair. “Playing video games, and s-said we should get out of the house.”

“You mean my video game?” The Riddler raised an eyebrow, and Taylor’s eyes widened.

“I… h-how did you know?” Taylor questioned, looking over at Katrina who was watching quietly over the rim of her glass of whiskey.

“When you hacked into my site it alerted me and gave me permissions to your computer camera to see who had been intelligent enough to do it. I must give you credit, my site is pretty impossible to hack into.”

Taylor and Katrina stared at Edward with wide eyes. Jonathan was watching tentatively, knowing that telling these girls that information probably wouldn’t end well.

“So… y-you were the reason my webcam was always on?” Taylor inquired, to which Edward smirked.

“Yes, of course, as I said-”

Edward was cut off as Katrina pushed her chair back, standing up and splashing her half glass of whiskey into Edward’s face. Taylor let out a yelp of surprise as both she and Jonathan moved out of the splash zone.

“Filthy pervert.” The brunette snarled, pushing her glasses up her face. Jonathan stared at her, noticing the scar that ran across her left pupil.

“Katrina!” Taylor exclaimed, watching as her friend stormed off. The Master of Fear couldn’t help but watch as she stormed off. She was stunning, brunette curls cascading down her back. The tight backless black dress that reached her mid thighs.

“Jonathan,” Edward’s voice snapped Jonathan out of his trance and he turned to look at the whiskey covered riddle master. “What did I do?”

“Let me take a wild guess,” Jonathan leaned back on his chair. “You admitted to two young women that you had been watching them over a webcam for a number of weeks. But that probably has no relation to why you’re covered in whiskey.”

Taylor giggled at Jonathan’s words before pushing her chair back and darting after her friend.

“Hey, wait!” Edward called after her, moving to stand up, though Jonathan placed a hand on his shoulder and held him in his seat.

“I’d really advise against it, Edward. I feel like that’s the kind of girl who’d punch you in the face.”

“I don’t care,” Edward pushed his hand away and stood up, heading for the door. “I want to talk to Taylor and that other girl dragged her off. This was not how the plan was supposed to go!”

Jonathan sighed in annoyance and stood up, following after his persistent friend while he silently formulated a plan in his head.

When they exited through the back entrance after the girls, they found them bickering.

“Katrina, relax, no harm has been done!”

“You’re just saying that because he complimented you! He also watched us change clothes this morning! It’s disgusting!”

“I’m sure he didn’t do it on purpose, we just happened to change in front of the camera!”

“She’s right, we didn’t watch on purpose,” Edward tried to calm the brunette’s anger. “We were merely watching Taylor play the maze when you started undressing.”

“Stay out of this.” Katrina snarled, eyes ablaze with anger.

 _Let me out, let me hurt the filthy pervert, he’s going to corrupt Taylor, he’s going to take her away from you,_ the voice babbled in Katrina’s head, causing her to wince, but she kept her gaze locked on the two men.

Edward moved to approach them, but, Jonathan held him back.

“Let me handle her.” Jonathan muttered quietly, and Edward frowned but stood still, allowing Jonathan to walk around Edward and past Taylor, approaching Katrina.

The brunette eyed him warily, but she seemed to relax as he approached her, gently placing a hand on her arm in what appeared to be a comforting way. The two redheads knew this was going to work when Katrina’s cheeks flushed ever so slightly.

“I must apologize for my friend,” Jonathan began, peering over his glasses at her, blue meeting blue. “He is very intelligent, he just often doesn’t know when to stop.”

Katrina swallowed nervously, looking over at Edward and Taylor. The two couldn’t hear what Jonathan was mumbling to Katrina, but, they were praying that it soothed the girl’s anger.

“He really doesn’t mean any harm. I think he was just a little smitten with your friend. Perhaps you’d be able to give him another chance?”

The dark haired girl was quiet for a minute, before she slowly nodded her head.

“Alright, I suppose. If he hurts Taylor, it will be the last thing he does.” Katrina threatened, and Jonathan nodded his head in understanding before watching the girl approach her friend, eyes watching Edward uneasily.

“I think we’d best be on our way…” Taylor trailed off, looking at her friend who nodded and turned, eager to leave.

Jonathan and Edward nodded, beginning to walk down the alley to leave. When Jonathan passed Katrina, he stopped to speak quietly to her.

“Perhaps we could get coffee sometime?”

The blush and smile gave Jonathan his answer, and the two men left without another word.

Once they were gone, Katrina looked at the ground, realizing that she should probably be a bit ashamed of her actions. Taylor ignored this and linked her arm with her friend, before dragging her down the alley in the direction of their home.

The walk was quiet, mainly because Katrina was still mulling over her actions and Taylor was trying not to limp that badly. Despite the silence, they were both unaware that they were being followed.

“Honestly Edward,” Jonathan whispered harshly to his friend. “Don’t you think we’ve caused them enough trouble? I just only convinced her to give you another chance, you’re going to blow it.”

“Shut up, Jonathan, I know what I’m doing. Why is she limping?” Edward inquired, glancing back at Jonathan who shook his head in annoyance.

“Aren’t you the infamous Edward Nigma? Don’t you already know everything?”

Edward normally would have gotten angry at his friend’s words, but he was distracted by the two girls entering a small, somewhat run down house in the Narrows, which had been quite a walk. Edward frowned and stopped walking, watching the house.

“There. You know where they live. Now can we go home, please?” Jonathan requested moodily, and Edward groaned before nodding his head.

The two men turned to leave, not knowing that Katrina was watching them through the curtain.

Shaking her head, she gritted her teeth and turned away from the attic window, looking over at Taylor who had her right leg propped up on a box she had pulled over to place beside the bed.

“You really should have worn your brace. Or at least brought your cane with you.” Katrina scolded, shaking her head as Taylor rolled her eyes and pulled off her dress, changing into a night shirt.

“I’m fine, Katrina. You know I hate wearing that thing. Besides it wasn’t that bad this morning.”

Katrina gave her friend a ‘whatever you say’ sort of look, before changing into her nightwear and climbing into bed beside her friend. Before she settled down, she peeked out the window above the bed once more.

She had a bad feeling that things were going to start changing… and she wasn’t sure if it was going to be a good change.


	4. Pretentious, Yet Lovable

Katrina was up early the next morning, half because she couldn’t sleep, and half because it occurred to her that she hadn’t fed the cats since yesterday morning.

Grumbling lightly to herself, she grabbed the two cat bowls off the floor and placed them on the counter, ignoring the two cats that jumped up beside them and stared expectantly at Katrina, their ever so willing slave.

The brunette couldn’t help but smile as she walked over and reached out to give the black cat a soft stroke, allowing her to purr contently.

“Sorry, babies. We didn’t mean to forget about you. We just had a… busy night…”

The black cat looked up at Katrina with an almost knowing expression, ignoring the food that was being poured into the bowl, while the other cat, gray with white markings, began to devour his with unsettling speed.

Katrina gave the cat an odd look, making herself some hot chocolate quietly.

Once it was made, she clasped the cup tightly, turning around and heading out into the small living room, coming face to face with Taylor, who jumped in surprise.

“Oh,” Taylor held a hand to her heart and took a deep breath. “Dear Lord, Trina, you can’t sneak around like that, you scared me.”

“That’s what I’m here for, lover.” Katrina teased lightly, making to move around Taylor.

Her red headed friend, however, seemed to be having none of that as she wrapped her arms around Katrina, holding her in place.

“I’m sorry, Katrina. For last night. I shouldn’t have been so eager to overlook the peeping. I, uh… guess you could say I was being, well…”

“You weren’t being stupid, Taylor,” Katrina objected quickly, knowing how hard it was for her best friend to say that word directed at herself. “He’s your idol, of course you wanted to defend him. I don’t blame you, so you don’t have to get upset.”

“Are you sure?” Taylor’s lower lip jutted as she leaned back to look up at the slightly taller girl. Katrina smirked and gave her friend a gentle pat on the head.

“Yes, of course I’m sure. Now, you might want to get your cat checked out. He’s a little derpy.”

“Alfredo!” Taylor sang gleefully as she ran into the kitchen in search for her cat, causing Katrina to roll her eyes at the absolutely idiotic name for the cat. But, Taylor thought it fit the feline so who was Katrina to say otherwise? As long as Taylor was happy.

Katrina tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear as she walked over to the piano in the corner of the main room.

Sitting herself down at the seat, Katrina brushed her fingertips over the keys as she mulled over what she should play. Though, soon, she found that, as usual, she couldn’t think of anything she was in the mood to play.

“Having a little trouble?” Taylor inquired, walking out of the kitchen with a cup of tea in her hands. Unlike Katrina, who hated both, Taylor often drank tea and occasionally coffee.

“Yes, as always. I can pretty much play any song, yet I can never decide on one.”

“Well, you know what I always say; play from your heart,” Taylor smiled brightly at her friend, before looking over at the door as a knock sounded from it. “I’ll get that, you just play, I’m excited to see what you figure out.”

Katrina watched her friend as she left, before turning back to look at the piano keys with a sigh.

At the door, Taylor slowly pulled it open just enough to peek through, finding herself surprised when she recognized the two men on her doorstep as the same ones from last night.

“Good morning, Taylor. How are you?” Edward Nigma beamed at her while Jonathan shuffled uncomfortably.

Taylor blinked at them before smiling softly.

“I’m good, and how are you? Would you like to come in?” She inquired, stepping back to open the door, allowing the two men to nod their heads and step into the threshold.

“Thank you.” Jonathan spoke quietly, giving Taylor a slight smile as he stepped in after Edward.

“It’s no problem. You boys are up early… Katrina and I just got up, we weren’t really expecting company…” Taylor trailed off as a soft voice sounded from the living room to the right of the entrance. Taylor’s face lit up as she realized her friend had found a song.

_“I’d never gone with the wind, just let it flow, let it take me where it wants to go, ‘til you open the door, there’s so much more, I’d never seen it before. I was trying to fly, but I couldn’t find wings. But you came along and you changed everything.”_

“Is that Katrina?” Jonathan inquired, and Taylor couldn’t help but grin at the sound of awe in the dark haired man’s voice. She’d have to tell Katrina about it later.

“Yes. I told her to play from the heart… I wonder who she’s singing for…” Taylor trailed off with a thoughtful smile on her face.

_“You lift my feet off the ground, you spin me around, you make me crazier, crazier. Feels like I’m falling and I am lost in your eyes, you make me crazier, crazier, crazier…”_

“You guys can come in, but don’t step too close. Lucky you’re on her left or she’d see you and stop singing. I don’t want her to do that so you guys have to be quiet for a few minutes, okay?”

Taylor turned to the boys and raised an eyebrow, watching as they obediently nodded their heads, allowing Taylor to lead them inside.

_“I’ve watched from a distance as you made life your own, every sky was your own kind of blue, and I wanted to know how that would feel, and you made it so real. You showed me something that I couldn’t see, you opened my eyes and you made me believe…”_

The red headed girl sighed dreamily as she walked over and sat on the piano in front of the singing Katrina, who’s eyes flickered to her before going back down to the piano.

_“Baby you showed me what living is for, I don’t wanna hide anymore, oh oh…”_

For the last verse, Taylor’s voice joined Katrina’s, and the duet formed a perfect, most beautiful melody that left the two boys by the door in absolute stunned silence.

_“You lift my feet off the ground, you spin me around. You make me crazier, crazier. Feels like I’m fallin’ and I am lost in your eyes. You make me crazier, crazier, crazier. Crazier, crazier…”_

As Katrina played the final notes of the song, Jonathan and Edward started to applaud, causing Katrina to jump and fall backwards off the piano seat, landing with a thump and looking over at the two intruders with wide eyes.

“I… w-what are you doing in my house?!” Katrina’s shock turned to anger as she quickly maneuvered herself to a standing position and clenched her fists at her sides, eyes narrowed.

“Trina, relax, I let them in!” Taylor exclaimed from where she was still seated on the piano, shielded by her overprotective best friend.

Katrina turned to look at Taylor with an incredulous look in her eyes.

“Why on Earth would you let them into the house, I-”

“Actually, Katrina, we didn’t mean to impose,” Jonathan interrupted, stepping forward and causing the three others to look at him. “I don’t know about Edward, but I personally came here to ask if you wanted to take me up on that offer for coffee this morning?”

“…o-oh.” Katrina mumbled, looking somewhat dumbfounded while Taylor and Edward merely stared at Jonathan in amazement, marveling over how he knew exactly what to say to the feisty brunette.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Shall we be going, then?” Jonathan raised an eyebrow at Katrina, who’s face flushed as she looked down at herself.

“Yes, o-of course, Just… uhm, let me get dressed…” She bit her lip before turning and rushing off.

“You really have a way with her, don’t you?” Taylor smirked over at Jonathan, who chuckled lightly, shaking his head.

“I just figured it out, she’s a lot like me in certain ways, so, it wasn’t hard to know how to settle her down,” Jonathan shrugged lightly, before his eyes met Taylor’s. “I believe Edward wanted to take you somewhere as well, so you may want to get dressed also.”

Taylor looked over at Edward, who had been uncharacteristically quiet this entire visit, as he beamed at her, causing her to laugh as she nodded and turned, heading upstairs.

Once the girls were dressed for the day, the four left the house, splitting off into pairs to go spend the day doing whatever each man had thought of.

Katrina couldn’t help but worry about her best friend, but, decided that Taylor always told her that she was brilliant and she knew what she was doing.

As she walked with Jonathan, Katrina couldn’t help but smile at the thought of how absolutely pretentious her best friend was.

Pretentious, yet lovable.


	5. Two Afternoon Dates

Jonathan and Katrina walked into the bookstore and over to the small cafe in the corner, each ordering a drink.

Jonathan ordered a black coffee, and Katrina, a hot chocolate, as she already had her coffee and didn’t want to be awake all night when she had classes in the morning.

Sitting down, the two sipped their coffee in idle silence.

“So,” Jonathan began, causing Katrina to look at him over the rims of her glasses. “You’re quite the beautiful singer. I couldn’t help but wonder to whom you were singing.”

Katrina’s face flushed softly, and she looked down, a soft smile crossing her face.

“Thank you… though I’m not going to tell you who I was singing to. It’s rather embarrassing.” Katrina replied, smiling at Jonathan, who was watching her with his chin resting on his hand.

“Were you singing to me? Because I don’t find that embarrassing at all.”

Katrina laughed at his teasing words, causing Jonathan to smile softly as she shook her head, reaching up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“No, no, it wasn’t about you. I’m not so easily charmed that I’d start singing songs meant for you already, Mr. Crane.”

“Yet, you have my mark tattooed on your back,” Jonathan smirked, causing Katrina’s face to flush heavily as she looked anywhere but his face. “Don’t worry, I find it endearing.”

“You only know about that because your perverted boyfriend was staring at us through a webcam.” Katrina spoke stiffly, causing Jonathan to become aware that he’d have to diffuse the tension or things might get out of hand.

“Boyfriend?” He laughed softly, shaking his head. “But, hey, I had nothing to do with that. If anything, I was trying to convince him not to spy on you two, but, he fancied your friend, and there’s really no talking sense into Edward once he sets his mind on something.”

Katrina chuckled softly, rolling her eyes slightly before she took a sip of her hot chocolate, the whipped cream on top decorating her upper lip slightly as she lowered the cup.

Upon seeing Jonathan’s smirk, she blushed slightly in embarrassment before she carefully licked the cream off her lip, letting out a soft sigh at the taste.

Jonathan felt his face heat up slightly as he watched this action, and Katrina, upon looking up and noticing this expression, threw him a cheeky smile.

“See something you like?” She inquired, running her finger over her bottom lip causing Jonathan to swallow the lump in his throat.

“Oh, most definitely.”

**_~*~*~*~_ **

Meanwhile, quite a ways from where Katrina and Jonathan were enjoying their outing at the bookstore cafe, Edward was leading Taylor to a rather different sort of place.

“Reset?! You’re bringing me to Reset?!” Taylor squealed in excitement, looking around the large Arcade Bar with a gleeful look on her face.

“Well, obviously. I figured, since you like playing games, we might play some together.” Edward smiled, causing Taylor to look over at him.

“I’ve always wanted to go with Trina but it’s so expensive… are you sure this is okay?”

“Taylor. Money isn’t really a concern of mine. You do know what I do for a living, don’t you?” Edward raised an eyebrow, causing Taylor to flush almost as red as her hair.

“Right… well, what first?”

Edward and Taylor darted from one game to another, mostly playing co-op but occasionally switching to single player, where they would take turns in an attempt to beat each others’ high scores.

“I have to admit, this isn’t a place Katrina would enjoy that much, so I’m glad I could to come here with you…” Taylor smiled warmly at him from the table they had seated themselves after playing games for nearing two hours.

“I’m glad I got to come here with you as well. Playing video games is one of my favorite pastimes. I figured I’d enjoy sharing it with such a beautiful woman such as yourself.”

Taylor couldn’t help but swoon slightly, lowering her head and pressing her palms to her cheeks to cover the blush, causing Edward to chuckle.

“I like how you face matches your hair, it’s quite adorable.” Edward complimented, causing Taylor to giggle rather sheepishly.

“Oh, don’t you talk, I’m sure the exact same thing happens to you.” Taylor retorted, feeling a bit more confident due to the drinks she had consumed, evident by the giggle she released as Edward rolled his dark blue eyes.

“Oh please, I am immune to embarrassment, nothing makes me blush.”

Edward’s eyes widened as Taylor leaned forward across the table and pressed her lips to his cheek, immediately feeling the heat that rose up in his skin.

Pulling back, she smirked cheekily at the blush spread across Edward’s cheeks.

“You were saying?” Taylor chided sweetly, tapping her cheek with a mischievous look on her face, her eyes alight with attraction towards the man seated across from her.

Edward leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and placing his chin on the backs on his hands, to which Taylor did the same, mimicking the position.

“You are a cheeky little thing, aren’t you?” Edward mused, a sly smirk painted across his lips.

“I try.” Taylor winked, her lips pulling back into a smile.

Edward leaned forward, his hand reaching out to lock around the back of Taylor’s neck, pulling her closer and pressing his lips to hers’.

**_~*~*~*~_ **

Standing on the steps leading up to Taylor and Katrina’s little house, Edward and Taylor’s lips were locked, her arms wrapped loosely around his neck.

Pulling back to take a breath, Taylor smiled dizzily up at Edward.

“I had a lot of fun with you today, Edward.”

“As did I, my dear. Hopefully we’ll see each other again soon?” Edward inquired hopefully, causing Taylor to smile sweetly.

“Patience, Edward. We’ll see.” She grinned, tapping him lightly on the nose, causing Edward to smirk softly.

Pulling her into a kiss once more, the two enjoyed their moment before pulling away as another car pulled onto the street and stopped in front of the house.

The red headed couple separated as Jonathan climbed out of the driver’s seat and rounded the car, opening the door for Katrina, who climbed out with a sheepish smile, giving a soft thanks.

Edward turned back to Taylor with a smile.

“I’ll see you later then.” Edward smiled, to which Taylor giggled softly and nodded her head.

“Perhaps. Bye.”

Giving a small wave, Taylor watched Edward walk down the steps and over to Jonathan.

“I’ll meet you back at our place.” Edward spoke with a slight smirk, patting Jonathan on the shoulder as he nodded.

Edward glanced back, watching Taylor disappear into the house, before he climbed into his car, pulling off down the street.

Jonathan and Katrina watched him go, before they turned and walked up the steps to the house.

“I hope you enjoyed yourself,” Jonathan spoke, turning to face Katrina, who nodded her head. “Though I assume it probably wasn’t as exciting as Taylor and Edward’s day.”

“Believe me, I don’t really do ‘exciting’. My day with you was just my kind of perfect.” Katrina reassured him with a gentle smile.

Jonathan returned the smile, before he reached up, aiming to take Katrina’s face in his hands, before he paused, looking into her eyes.

“…may I?” He questioned cautiously, to which Katrina’s face flushed slightly but she nodded her head in response.

Jonathan smiled before taking her face gently in his hands and lowering his lips to meet hers’.

Katrina thought this was, all in all, a very, very good day.


End file.
